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Mississippi  Agricultural  Experiment  Station 

Mississippi  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College 

Agricultural  College,  Mississippi 

633.5109762 

Ew54e 

CIRCULAR 

EXPRESS  COTTON 


THE  OPEN  COTTON  IS  EXPRESS 


By  E.  C EWING* 

AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE,  MISSISSIPPI 
January,  1915. 


TUCKER  PRINTING  HOUSE  JACKSON  MISS 


STATION  STAFF 

G.  R.  HIGHTOWER President 

E.  R.  LLOYD Director  and  Animal  Husbandman 

J.  R.  RICKS Vice-Director  and  Agronomist 

W.  F.  HAND Chemist 

W.  N.  LOGAN Geologist 

J.  S.  MOORE Dairy  Husbandman 

A.  B.  McKAY Horticulturist 

R.  W.  HARNED Entomologist 

DANIELS  SCOATES Agricultural  Engineer 

H.  B,  BROWN Botanist 

E.  M.  RANCK v ...Veterinarian 

C.  F.  BRISCOE Bacteriologist 

E.  C.  EWING Cotton  Breeding 

A.  SMITH In  Charge  of  Beef  Cattle  Work 

E.  P.  CLAYTON Poultryman 

A.  G.  HALL , Drainage  Engineer* 

S.  S.  JERDAN Assistant  Animal  Husbandman* 

H.  F.  HANSON Assistant  Animal  Husbandman* 

J.  M.  BEAL Assistant  Botanist 

C.  E.  WILSON Assistant  Entomologist 

MISS  SIDNEY  GAY Stenographer 

E.  B.  FERRIS Assistant  Director,  McNeill  Station 

C.  T.  AMES Assistant  Director,  Holly  Springs  Station 

G.  B.  WALKER Assistant  Director,  Delta  Station 


*In  co-operation  with  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 
AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
ACES 


EXPRESS  COTTON 


Introduction* — Express  cotton  is  a new  early  variety  of  long  staple 
Upland*  cotton.  It  has  been  grown  in  Mississippi  for  four  years  now 
and  the  acreage  has  been  increased  each  year  as  rapidly  as  seed  have 
become  available  for  planting.  The  very  favorable  results  secured 
with  Express  cotton  in  the  Delta  seem  to  justify  the  Experiment  Station 
in  recommending  this  cotton  as  the  best  variety  of  its  class.  It  is  not 
an  extra  staple  cotton  but  runs  around  an  inch  and  three  sixteenths, 
a popular  length  in  the  market  at  the  present  time.  A great  many 
inquiries  are  received  in  regard  to  the  variety  and  this  circular  has  been 
prepared  to  give  certain  information  which  may  be  of  interest  to  growers 
of  long  staple  cotton  and  to  dealers  handling  this  cotton. 

Origin  and  History. — The  question  of  where  Express  cotton  came 
from  is  frequently  asked  and  for  this  reason  an  account  of  its  origin 
and  history  may  be  of  some  interest.  This  is  one  of  the  several  new 
varieties  which  have  been  produced  by  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, and  to  Dr.  D.  N.  Shoemaker,  formerly  of  the  Office  of  Cotton 
Breeding  Investigations  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry  of  that  Depart- 
ment, belongs  the  credit  of  establishing  it. 

Like  all  other  varieties  which  have  been  developed,  or  rather 
isolated  by  systematic  methods  of  selection  and  testing,  within  the 
past  few  years,  this  variety  has  descended  from  a single  plant.  The 
first  selection  was  made  by  Dr.  Shoemaker  in  1904  in  a mixed  field 
of  so-called  “Bohemian”  cotton  growing  near  Paris,  Texas.  All  of 
Dr.  Shoemaker’s  work  in  subsequent  years  on  the  selection  and  testing 
of  this  variety  was  done  near  Paris. 

The  original  strain  at  once  showed  remarkable  earliness  and  later 
was  named  “Express”  by  Dr.  Shoemaker  because  “it  gets  there  early 
with  the  goods.”  This  earliness  was  combined  with  considerable 
length  of  staple  as  compared  with  the  cotton  generally  grown  in  that 
section,  but  it  had  defects  which  prevented  it  from  getting  into  com- 
mercial cultivation  in  Texas.  Almost  throughout  Texas,  and  especially 
on  the  black  prairie  lands,  which  make  up  the  greater  part  of  the  cotton- 
producing  area  of  Texas,  a big  boiled,  storm-proof,  vigorous,  drouth- 
resistant  type  of  cotton  with  a high  lint  percentage  is  preferred  and 
these  qualities  are  more  or  less  lacking  in  Express.  Besides,  neither 
the  greater  length  of  lint  nor  the  extreme  earliness  of  Express  cotton 
was  an  especially  valuable  quality  in  Texas.  On  the  contrary,  these  quali- 
ties are  very  desirable  in  the  Mississippi  Delta  and  the  defects  which  proved 
a handicap  to  this  variety  in  Texas  are  not  so  objectionable  in  the  Delta. 


*The  term  Upland  cotton  is  used  here  in  its  agricultural  and  botanical 
sense  to  distinguish  it  from  Sea  Island  and  Egyptian  cotton,  long  staple  cotton 
belonging  to  another  species,  rather  than  the  ordinary _ trade  sense.  In  the 
cotton  trade  the  term  Upland  cotton  usually  refers  to  the  short  staple  cotton 
grown  on  uplands,  principally  in  the  Southeastern'  States. 


4 


CIRCULAR  ON  EXPRESS  COTTON 


No  further  efforts  were  made  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
to  improve  Express  cotton  after  1909  although  it  was  tested  in  several 
localities  in  Texas  in  1910  in  comparison  with  other  varieties  and  with 
unfavorable  results.  The  variety  appeared  unpromising;  it  was  not 
adapted  to  the  conditions  under  which  it  had  been  grown  and  nearly 
all  of  the  seed  were  discarded. 

At  that  time  the  boll  weevil  had  covered  the  region  along  the 
Mississippi  River  in  the  Southwestern  part  of  Mississippi  where  the 
finest  long  staple  cotton  had  been  grown,  and  had  invaded  the  Delta, 
a heavy  producing  region  of  benders  and  long  staple  cottons.  As  the 
old  varieties  depended  on  for  these  classes  of  cotton  were  late  maturing, 
the  boll  weevil  was  causing  them  to  be  abandoned  and  early  short 
staple  varieties  were  being  substituted.  As  a result  the  supply  of 
long  cotton  was  very  much  cut  down  and  premiums  on  long  staples 
became  unusually  high  in  1910  and  1911. 

While  in  the  employ  of  the  Federal  Department  of  Agriculture  in 
1909,  the  writer  had  the  opportunity  of  observing  the  behavior  of 
Express  cotton  at  Paris,  and  several  other  points  in  Texas  in  1910. 
The  earliness  and  the  length  of  lint  of  this  variety  were  recognized  as 
being  of  probable  value  in  the  Delta,  and  on  entering  the  service  of  the 
Mississippi  Experiment  Station  in  1911  the  writer  secured  about  a 
peck  of  Express  seed  which  had  been  saved  at  Washington  from  the 
crop  of  1909.  Most  of  these  were  planted  at  the  Delta  Branch  Station 
in  the  spring  of  1911,  part  in  the  variety  test,  and  part  in  a small  isolated 
seed  patch.  The  showing  made  by  this  cotton  at  the  Delta  Station 
the  first  year  was  exceedingly  good  and  all  the  pure  seed  produced 
were  saved. 

So  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  all  of  the  Express  cotton  in  the  country 
(and  several  thousand  acres  were  grown  during  the  past  season)  has 
come  from  the  peck  of  seed  planted  by  the  Mississippi  Experiment 
Station  in  1911.  If  the  variety  had  not  been  taken  up  and  introduced 
by  this  Station,  it  would  probably  have  become  extinct.  Efforts  were 
made  to  obtain  more  seed  from  Texas  as  soon  as  the  variety  began  to 
appear  promising  in  Mississippi  in  1911,  but  without  success.  Several 
bales  of  Express  cotton  had  been  grown  at  Paris  in  1909,  but  the  seed 
had  all  been  discarded  before  the  value  of  this  variety  for  other  sections 
was  discovered. 

Characteristics  of  the  Variety* — Express  cotton  is  quite  distinct  in 
its  appearance  and  also  rather  distinct  in  its  behavior.  The  plant  grows 
larger  than  most  varieties  and  is  rather  open  and  spreading  in  form. 
This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  stem  and  branches  are  somewhat  long 
and  slender  with  long  intemodes.  This  is  a disadvantage  when  grown 
on  excessively  rich  land  where  the  plant  becomes  very  heavily  loaded 
with  fruit.  It  is  a rather  vigorous  growing  variety,  and  for  that  reason 
does  well  even  on  soils  in  the  Delta  which  are  somewhat  thin.  The 
leaves  are  small  to  medium-sized,  and  owing  to  this  and  to  the  open 
form  of  the  plant,  the  foliage  produces  relatively  little  shade.  The 
bolls  are  of  medium  size  and  rather  long  though  not  so  pointed  as  those 


MISSISSIPPI  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


5 


of  most  long  staple  varieties.  The  bolls  generally  mature  well  and 
open  up  well,  but  hold  the  cotton  only  fairly  well.  It  is  not  a storm- 
proof variety.  The  plant  is  rather  free  from  fungus  diseases  and  seems 
to  resist  both  the  cotton-wilt  disease,  or  blight,  and  the  boll-rots 
relatively  well. 


FIELD  OF  EXPRESS  COTTON 

One  of  the  most  distinctive  characteristics  of  Express  cotton  is  its 
earliness.  It  is  unquestionably  the  earliest  available  variety  that  can 
be  classed  as  long  staple.  The  Express  plant  grows  rapidly  and  although 
it  does  not  begin  blooming  quite  as  early  as  Trice,  or  as  early  as  King 
and  Simpkins  and  other  varieties  of  that  group,  still  the  first  flowers  of 
Express  cotton  appear  relatively  early  and  the  plant  soon  makes  up 
for  any  slight  delay  in  starting  to  fruit  by  its  rapid  and  profuse  blooming. 
A great  many  flowers  are  produced  within  a short  time,  for  the  plant 
seems  to  bloom  all  over  from  top  to  bottom  after  fruiting  is  started. 
The  time  required  for  the  bolls  to  mature  (that  is,  the  length  of  the 
period  between  the  opening  of  the  bloom  and  the  opening  of  the  result- 
ing boll)  is  about  as  short  in  Express  as  in  any  other  variety,  and  this 
fact,  together  with  the  quality  of  rapid  fruiting,  enables  the  Express 
plant,  about  as  well  as  any  other  variety,  to  set  its  fruit  and  “get  by” 
before  the  boll  weevils  become  so  numerous  late  in  the  season. 

The  length  of  staple  is  about  an  inch  and  three-sixteenths.  It  is 
frequently  classed  as  selected  inch  and  an  eighth,  or  as  commercial 
three-sixteenths,  in  the  Greenville  market,  to  which  more  Express 
cotton  has  beensent  than  to  any  other,  but  the  staple  usually  runs  about 
an  inch  and  three-sixteenths,  and  in  other  markets  it  has  frequently 
been  classed  inch  and  a quarter.  The  character  of  Express  cotton  is 
very  good.  It  is  a strong  bodied,  tough,  even  fiber;  all  expert  classers 
seem  to  agree  on  this. 

Comparison  with  Other  Varieties. — The  staple  of  Express  cotton 
is  of  a popular  length,  that  has  been  in  good  demand  and  has  brought  a 
satisfactory  premium  over  short  staple,  and  this  condition  is  likely  to 
continue  unless  the  production  becomes  excessive.  Toward  the  close 
of  1911,  a decided  slump  occurred  in  the  demand  and  the  premiums 
for  long  staple  cotton,  and  this  continued  through  last  season.  This, 


6 


CIRCULAR  ON  EXPRESS  COTTON 


however,  affected  mainly  the  extra  staples  (longer  than  inch  and  a 
quarter)  while  inch  and  three-sixteenths  cotton  has  continued  to  sell 
well  all  along. 

Last  year  selected  inch  and  an  eighth  and  inch  and  three-sixteenths 
cotton  in  strict  middling  grade  sold  at  Greenville  around  16  to  16%  cts., 
while  shorts  in  the  same  grade  were  selling  at  13  to  13%  cents.  This 
year,  of  course,  values  are  abnormally  low  on  all  classes  of  cotton  on 
account  of  the  effects  of  the  European  War,  but  the  scale  of  prices  for 
different  staples  remains  favorable  to  Express.  The  premium  for  inch 
and  three-sixteenths  cotton  has  ruled  from  about  3 to  6 cents  per  pound 
above  the  value  of  shorts  of  the  same  grade  except  in  extremely  low 
grades.  As  the  whole  cotton  industry  is  very  much  demoralized  now, 
probably  no  one  can  predict  the  probable  differences  in  prices  that  will 
be  paid  next  season  for  long  and  short  staple  cotton.  However,  under 
favorable  conditions  Express  usually  yields  as  well,  or  nearly  as  well, 
as  the  earliest  and  most  productive  short  staple  varieties  and  usually 
yields  more  than  other  long  staple  varieties,  and  in  sections  suitable 
to  the  production  of  long  staple  cotton,  Express  is  undoubtedly  one 
of  the  most  profitable  varieties  to  plant  with  the  present  range  of  prices 
in  force.  Experiments  conducted  under  boll  weevil  conditions  in  the 
Delta  indicate  that  this  is  especially  true  if  cotton  can  be  grown  suc- 
cessfully at  all.  Where  the  boll  weevil  is  not  a factor  in  long  staple 
territory,  other  varieties  may  be  more  profitable,  but  what  remains 
uninfested  of  the  Delta  in  Mississippi  and  Arkansas  is  so  far  north  that, 
even  without  weevils,  the  distinct  earliness  of  Express  should  give  it 
an  advantage,  especially  in  a short  season. 

Express  was  first  grown  in  the  variety  test  at  the  Delta  Station 
in  1911  and  most  of  the  conclusions  regarding  the  merits  of  this  variety 
have  come  from  that  and  subsequent  tests  at  the  Delta  Station  supple- 
mented by  variety  tests  made  elsewhere  in  the  Delta  and  by  the  opinions 
of  planters  who  have  grown  the  variety  commercially*.  In  1911 
cotton  at  the  Delta  Station  came  up  rather  late  and  was  damaged 
considerably  by  the  boll  weevil.  In  this  test  Express  led  all  other 
varieties  in  yield  of  seed  cotton  and  in  money  value  of  the  product 
per  acre,  based  on  the  yield  of  seed  and  lint  and  the  value  per  pound 
of  these  products. 

In  1912  Express  was  not  grown  in  the  variety  tests,  all  seed  having 
been  planted  in  a field  separated  from  other  cotton  in  order  to  increase 
the  amount  of  pure  seed.  In  1913  this  variety  stood  third  in  point  of 
money  value  per  acre  in  the  list  of  forty-five  varieties  tested  at  the 
Delta  Station,  being  slightly  exceeded  only  by  two  short  staple  varieties. 
The  boll  weevil  did  practically  no  damage  to  this  cotton.  In  1914 
Express  led  all  the  other  sixteen  varieties  tested  at  the  Delta  Station 
in  money  value  per  acre  of  the  product.  Variety  tests  were  conducted 


♦The  results  of  most  of  the  variety  tests  referred  to  have  been  published 
in  Bulletins  Nos.  155,  161,  164,  and  169  of  the  Mississippi  Experiment  Station 
and  the  exact  figures  can  be  found  in  these  publications. 


MISSISSIPPI  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


7 


by  the  Experiment  Station  on  plantations  heavily  infested  with  boll 
weevils  at  other  points  in  the  Delta  in  1913  and  in  1914,  and  the  results 
of  these  tests  bore  out  those  secured  at  the  Delta  Station  so  far  as 
Express  was  concerned. 

In  variety  tests  conducted  at  the  other  stations  Express  has  made 
a fairly  respectable  showing  with  and  without  the  boll  weevil,  but  the 
returns  have  not  been  so  favorable  as  in  the  Delta.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  this  cotton  is  not  being  recommended  for  general 
cultivation  everywhere.  It  is  recommended  especially  for  the  Delta 
and,  perhaps,  for  certain  strong  soils  elsewhere  which  will  produce 
long  staple  cotton  to  advantage.  It  is  believed  that  this  variety  will 
do  very  well  in  the  Northeast  Prairie  region  of  Mississippi. 

Objectionable  Features* — As  stated  already,  this  cotton  is  not 
suitable  for  planting  on  very  excessively  rich  land.  The  stem  and 
branches  are  somewhat  slender  and  when  very  heavily  loaded  with 
fruit  they  are  apt  to  be  broken  down  by  the  weight  of  the  bolls.  While 
this  cotton  does  especially  well  in  the  Delta  as  a whole,  there  are  certain 
new  lands  there  and  lands  that  have  been  heavily  manured,  which, 
if  put  in  cotton,  had  better  be  planted  with  some  other  early  variety, 
such  as  Trice,  Simpkins,  or  Dodds’  Prolific,  varieties  which  do  not  pro- 
duce such  a large  stalk.  However,  the  area  over  which  this  objection 
to  Express  will  apply  is  not  very  great.  Although  most  Delta  soils 
have  been  very  fertile  and  are  still  potentially  so  and  capable  of  being 
brought  back  to  that  condition,  still  those  that  have  been  cultivated 
in  cotton  long  have  usually  been  “worn  out,”  and  on  most  of  the  lands 
of  this  section,  there  will  be  no  danger  in  planting  Express  cotton  on 
account  of  the  defect  mentioned  above.  On  the  other  hand,  very  thin, 
drouthy  soils  that  are  subject  to  rust  should  be  planted  with  some  of 
the  big  boiled,  vigorous,  longer  growing  varieties. 

Another  disappointing  feature  of  Express  is  the  low  lint  percentage, 
or  ginning  out-turn.  In  all  of  the  ginning  tests  that  we  have  made 
with  Express  cotton,  the  lint  out-turn  has  run  around  28  per  cent  of  the 
seed  cotton  ginned.  At  this  figure  it  takes  about  1,785  pounds  of  seed 
cotton  to  make  a 500  pound  bale,  net  weight  (excluding  the  weight  of 
bagging  and  ties).  This  cotton  has  usually  been  stored  for  sometime 
before  ginning  and  has  been  allowed  to  season,  or  dry  out.  In  practice 
where  the  cotton  is  hauled  directly  to  the  gin  as  soon  as  picked,  espec- 
ially early  in  the  season  when  the  seed  are  green  and  sappy,  it  frequently 
takes  from  1,800  to  2,000  pounds  of  seed  cotton  to  make  a 500  pound 
bale.  Although  this  low  lint  percentage  is  really  an  objectionable 
quality  and  is  rather  disappointing  to  the  man  who  only  puts  a light 
load  of  seed  cotton  on  his  wagon  and  carries  it  to  the  gin,  still  it  is  not 
a very  serious  objection  if  the  yield  of  seed  cotton  per  acre  is  great 
enough  to  compensate  for  the  low  percentage  of  lint,  because  at  normal 
prices  the  seed  will  pay  for  picking  the  cotton.  Nevertheless,  it  is 
believed  that  a high  linting  cotton  has  the  advantage  in  several  ways  and 
efforts  are  being  made  to  develop  strains  of  Express,  or  something  just 
as  good,  with  a higher  lint  percentage. 


8 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBAN  A 


3 0112  044449020 

CIRCULAR  ON  EXPRESS  COTTON 


Seed  Supply* — As  the  Station  began  to  grow  Express  cotton  with 
only  a very  small  supply  of  seed  in  1911  and  all  the  seed  now  available 
has  come  from  our  first  planting,  it  has  taken  a good  while  to  get  the 
variety  into  general  cultivation  and  the  seed  were  in  great  demand 
last  year.  Several  thousand  acres  were  grown  in  the  Delta  during  the 
past  season  and  an  ample  supply  of  seed  is  now  on  sale  by  those  who 
grew  it. 

The  stock  of  seed  of  this  variety  now  being  grown  commercially 
is  not  entirely  pure  and  inferior  plants  bearing  inferior  lint  can  be  found 
in  any  field.  However,  this  cotton  is  not  nearly  so  badly  mixed  as 
most  of  the  cotton  now  generally  grown  in  the  Delta.  The  Experiment 
Station  has  in  hand  selected  strains  of  Express  that  are  more  promising 
than  the  general  unselected  stock.  These  are  not  ready  for  distribution 
yet,  but  it  is  expected  that  some  of  them  can  be  introduced  in  a relatively 
pure  state  in  the  near  future. 

It  is  hoped  that  those  who  are  growing  this  variety,  or  any  other 
good  variety,  will  exercise  every  precaution  to  keep  their  seed  as  pure 
as  possible.  The  greatest  source  of  seed  mixture  is  the  public  gin  and 
the  private  gin  is  sometimes  as  bad  where  different  varieties  are  ginned 
at  the  same  ginnery.  Unless  all  the  cotton  ginned  at  a plant  is  of  the 
same  variety,  where  seed  are  to  be  saved  for  planting,  the  gins  and  the 
elevators  leading  to  the  gins  should  be  thoroughly  cleaned  of  all  cotton 
and  seed  and  the  seed  to  be  saved  should  be  caught  on  the  floor  at  the 
gin  head  and  not  allowed  to  get  into  the  seed  elevator.  The  ginning 
of  cotton  from  which  the  seed  is  to  be  saved  should  be  arranged  at  a 
time  when  the  gins  are  not  rushed  and  time  can  be  taken  to  take  these 
precautions.  Unless  seed  U prevented,  the  variety  will  surely 

decline  both  in  yield  and  in  selling  quality,  and  as  a result  of  the  deterio- 
ration in  length  of  staple  and  character  of  lint  due  to  mixture,  any 
preference  which  may  be  established  for  this  cotton  in  the  market 
will  soon  disappear. 


